The present invention is directed to the repair of broken harvester reel pickup tine fingers.
Combines used in the harvesting for example of wheat, soy beans and small grains typically have a rotating cylindrical harvester reel at the forward leading end of the combine to sweep the crop which is to be harvested into the combine apparatus. These reels include a plurality of spaced horizontally extending support shafts which rotate with the reel and which have a plurality of pickup tines attached in side by side relationship to each other along the length of the support shafts. These pickup tines are typically molded in one piece integral construction of a durable plastic, such as for example, nylon, acetal or homopolypropylene, and include a clamp for clamping the pickup tine to the support shaft and an elongate curved finger of approximately 7½ inches long which extends from the clamp so as to sweep the crop to be harvested into the harvester reel and combine.
In view of the rather severe environment in which these pickup tines operate and their functional purpose, the fingers of the tines are subject to breakage due to contact with rocks and other objects as well as the crop which itself is being harvested all of which are encountered while the rotating harvester reel is moving over the field being harvested. Various approaches have been employed to minimize to the extent possible such breakage. However, breakage of the fingers will inevitably occur.
Once a sufficient number of tine fingers have been broken to impair the efficient operation of the harvester reel, it is necessary to stop the harvester and manually unscrew and remove the broken pickup tines from the support shaft and replace them with new tines. This obviously is wasteful of both time and effort, requires the use of a tool, and maximizes the time which the combine is out of service.
The present invention substantially reduces such waste of time, effort and downtime by permitting a broken tine finger to be easily and rapidly repaired without the need for tools or the need to remove the pickup tine from the support shaft and replace it with a new tine. In the present invention a new hollow finger is simply slipped over the remaining portion of the broken finger and is fastened in place to the existing tine without the need to remove the existing tine with its broken finger from the support shaft or the need for tools to do so. Moreover, if the hollow finger itself subsequently becomes broken, it may easily be replaced simply by removing it from the preexisting pickup tine and replacing the hollow finger with a new hollow finger.
In one principal aspect of the present invention, a finger for receiving a finger of a harvester reel pickup tine comprises an elongate hollow finger having a cavity therein opening to at least one end of the finger and extending over at least a portion of the length of the finger, the cavity being constructed and arranged to receive at least a portion of a finger of the harvester reel pickup tine therein, and at least one fastener adjacent the one end for fastening the hollow finger over the portion of the finger of the pickup tine when the portion is in the cavity.
In another principal aspect of the present invention, a harvester reel pickup tine comprises a clamp for clamping the pickup tine to a support shaft of a harvester reel, and a first elongate finger extending from adjacent the clamp. A second elongate hollow finger having a cavity therein opens to at least one end of the second hollow finger and extends over at least a portion of the length of the second finger, the cavity being constructed and arranged to receive at least a portion of the first finger therein. At least one fastener adjacent the one end fastens the second hollow finger over the portion of the first finger when the portion is in the cavity.
In still another principal aspect of the present invention, the hollow finger is curved.
In still another principal aspect of the present invention, the hollow finger is smaller in cross section toward the end opposite said one end.
In still another principal aspect of the present invention, the shape of the elongate hollow finger is a substantial replicate of the finger of the harvester reel pickup tine.
In still another principal aspect of the present invention, the cavity of the hollow finger is constructed and arranged to receive a remaining broken portion of a broken finger of the pickup tine to repair the broken finger.
In still another principal aspect of the present invention, the fastener is constructed and arranged to frictionally engage the pickup tine to fasten the one end of the hollow finger to the pickup tine.
In still another principal aspect of the present invention, the fastener comprises a split ring, and preferably a pair of split rings.
In still another principal aspect of the present invention, the pickup tine includes at least one wing extending from the first finger at an angle thereto, and the clamp, first elongate finger and wing are formed in integral one-piece relationship.
In still another principal aspect of the present invention, a method of repairing a broken finger of a harvester reel pickup tine comprises positioning an elongate hollow finger having a cavity therein opening to at least one end of the hollow finger and extending over at least a portion of the length of the hollow finger so that at least a portion of a remaining portion of the broken finger extends into the cavity; and fastening the elongate hollow finger over the remaining portion of the broken finger when the portion extends into the cavity.
In still another principal aspect of the present invention, in the method the elongate hollow finger is frictionally fastened to the pickup tine.
In still another principal aspect of the present invention, in the method the elongate hollow finger is fastened to a wing of the pickup tine.
In still another principal aspect of the present invention, in the method the elongate hollow finger is snapped onto the pickup tine.
In still another principal aspect of the present invention, in the method substantially all of the remaining portion of the broken finger is positioned in the cavity.
In still another principal aspect of the present invention, in the method the repair is accomplished without removing the pickup tine from the harvester reel.
These and other objects, features and advantages of the present invention will be more clearly understood through a consideration of the following detailed description.